Saffron Walden Town and Saffron Walden Rugby Club were both celebrating good wins as sport made a return from the frost and ice.

The Bloods won 3-1 away to Takeley in an Essex Senior League derby, their second successive victory on the road in the competition.

Charlie Cole scored twice in the first-half at Station Road, the second of them from the penalty spot, but after Jack Martin had pulled one back for the hosts, they needed a George Powell strike 15 minutes from time to settle the nerves and seal the three points.

The result lifts them to 10th and now four points clear of their rivals in 14th.

Saffron Walden Rugby Club meanwhile enjoyed a 15th straight win in the Counties One Eastern Counties division with a 24-5 success at Ely.

It didn't take long for them to get their noses in front either.

The ball was taken deep into the Ely 22 before being sent out to the backs where Tom Hughes gave a simple off-load to Mark Willingale for an unopposed trot to the line.

Morgan Cook kicked the extras but if Walden thought that would open the floodgates, they were mistaken.

Neither side were able to find a gap for the remainder of the half although happily, the visitors were dominating in the scrum.

And it was from the set-piece that Walden got their second try of the day, 10 minutes into the second period.

The pack edged forward from their starting point on the five-metre line and with Ely struggling, number eight Brad Baker picked up and drove over the line.

Ely's best period of the game came in the next 15 minutes and with Walden getting themselves into penalty trouble, the home side suddenly found themselves facing 13 men following two yellow cards.

One of them returned but the second sinner was still waiting when Ely scored thanks to an overlap.

A penalty four minutes later was kicked by Cook to put the brakes on any home recovery and for the last 10 minutes, the away side enjoyed more of the territory.

They might have scored on a couple of occasions but it wasn't until the last play of the game that they finally found an overlap, Hughes going through a gap before passing out to Tom Smith for the easy score.

Cook maintained his 100 per cent record with the extras to seal the victory.

High Easter Football Club suffered a heavy 5-1 defeat to Priory Sports Res in the Chelmsford Sunday League although it wasn't as clear-cut a success as the score makes it look.

Sports Res got off to a great start, scoring early through John Watson, and by half-time they led 3-1 with an own-goal and Nick Cowden adding to their tally.

But Easter were still pushing and after Emilio Caceres Sola had hit a post, Henry French pulled one back on the stroke of the interval.

High Easter continued putting pressure on the defence after the break but two quick goals from Taser Hassan and Tyler Weaver wrecked their hopes of a comeback.